Two Lines, One Job

1939

Joseph Friebert (American, 1908–2002)

Joseph Friebert used muted tones and a loose, sketchy style to portray two lines of men seen from behind, leaving them faceless and anonymous. During the Great Depression, the Milwaukee artist was determined to depict the hardships and harsh conditions that workers faced, including unemployment. Here the rhythmic pairs of figures merge and blur in the distance, suggesting that their shared fate was to endure a lengthy and perhaps futile wait for a lone job. The painting thus conveys the hopelessness felt by job seekers during the Depression, a sense accentuated by the rough texture of the painted surface.

Status: On View, Gallery 263
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Joseph Friebert
Title: Two Lines, One Job
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1939
Medium: Oil on Masonite
Dimensions: 41 × 50.8 cm (16 1/8 × 20 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Bernard Friedman
Reference Number: 2022.244

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Joseph Friebert: A Retrospective, 1968, cat. 1.
Milwaukee Art Museum, 100 Years of Wisconsin Art, Sept. 24–Nov. 6, 1988, cat.
Milwaukee Art Museum, Joseph Friebert: Selected Works, through Dec. 17, 1989.
Milwaukee, Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Joseph Friebert at Ninety, July 17–Aug. 30, 1998, cat. 9, ill. p. 14.
Chicago, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Joseph Friebert, Fred Berman, and the Milwaukee Scene, 1935–1965, Dec. 1, 2006–Jan. 6, 2007, cat., ill. p. 9.
West Bend, WI, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Joseph Friebert: A Life in Art, Aug. 11–Oct. 7, 2018, cat., ill. p. 49.

Joseph Friebert (1908–2002), Milwaukee, 1939; given to his daughter, Susan Friebert Rossen, Chicago, 1978; sold to Bernard Friedman, Evanston, IL, 2022; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2022.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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